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LunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month.
The lunar equivalent of solstices. More. Range is the part of a horizon quadrant within which Lunistices always rise or set.
Strictly speaking, it is a zone between the Major and Minor
Standstills
Lunistice positions vary cyclically over an 18.6 year period but are fairly static for more than a year at either end of the range
of the moon but always overlaps with a part of the solar zone that is beyond the Cross-Quarter.
These examples are of Northern Ranges, where Lunistices may be best observed during the winter half of the year.
The theme here is Summer Cross-Quarter (SXQ)
Cross-Quarters are the days half-way between the equinox and a solstice.
Summer cross-quarters are Bealtainne & Lughnasadh (May Day & Lammas)
at the bottom and Major Standstill (Max)
The year or two when lunistice positions are at their maximum distance from the equinox at the top.
Some go beyond the top, some stop before it. At the end are a couple of inversions.
- Orange Solar trajectories split the tropical year into 48 "Tweeks" (7.6 day mean) that are better regarded as quarter-months.
- Solid Blue Lunar lines split cyclical lunistice position variation into 16 periods of about 14 months each.
Lunistices rising in the North-East first become visible some weeks after Summer Solstice, as a thin waning crescent before sunrise.
They then progress monthly, going backwards through both night and phase, until full moon nearest the Winter Solstice which is the last visible Lunistice of the series.
This Solstitial full moon is also the first Lunistice to be visible as it sets in the North-West.
These setting Lunistices in the North-West then diminish monthly until the last, a thin waxing crescent some weeks before Summer Solstice.
Horizontal Parallax shifts the apparent position of the moon nearer to the equator.
This means that Northern and Southern lunistice ranges have different relationships between solar and lunar positions.
For northern ranges it is the summer cross-quarters that are the most convenient solar marker.
